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WQXR Expands its Reach into Westchester with New WQXW 90.3 FM

Monday, July 29, 2013

The coverage area for WQXR, currently (L), and after the planned signal expansion (R)

Beginning today, WQXR expands its reach into central and northern parts of Westchester County on the new WQXW 90.3 FM.

WQXW (formerly WDFH) will bring audiences from Sleepy Hollow to Mount Kisco and Ossining to Armonk the same programming heard on WQXR in New York City.

In the fall, WQXR plans to expand the WQXW signal to reach towns like Katonah, Bedford and Yorktown Heights.

Many of these communities were affected when WQXR moved from its old frequency 96.3 FM to 105.9 FM, after New York Public Radio purchased the station from the New York Times in 2009. The station has been looking for opportunities to restore that service ever since. This acquisition enables us to do just that and to expand even farther.

As part of the return to central and northern Westchester, WQXR will expand our slate of live broadcasts and events from the region, starting with a concert from Caramoor. The station will also cultivate partnerships with other leading Westchester arts organizations to enrich our programming and service to the community.

"Westchester has a vibrant community of classical music lovers," said Graham Parker, General Manager of WQXR in a statement.

"As we extend our service more deeply into the Central and Northern reaches of the region, we look forward to serving old friends and new listeners alike with classical music not found elsewhere on the radio, and working with Caramoor and other regional arts presenters to build exciting content and broadcasts for both our radio and digital audiences."

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Comments [49]

Reception has been poor in my Manhattan apartment (lots of noise) since WQXR moved to 105.9. Still very bad in 2015. Sometimed I listen to talk on WNYC because that has a much better signal for New York City.

I live in the north Bronx near van Cortlandt Park. No WQXR evenings during the week and none at all on the weekends. Forget about 90.3 entirely - nothing.Can someone please explain to me in very simple terms : is there an extra antenna that I could purchase to attach to my Sony portable radio? I like to leave it on in the kitchen and hear the music throughout the apartment.I also have a full Sony stereo in the living room and that needs a tuner maybe? Oy.

We, too, are very disappointed that we no longer get a signal here in Montclair, NJ. We began receiving intermittent static this past summer, but two weeks ago it became consistent. We miss waking up to WQXR!

Notice how wqxr staff are happy to comment on the new station in Ossining but their silence is deafening for the much larger audience in Connecticut and Long Island they left to rot when the NYT made its bargain with the devil and sold the 96.3 signal to papi land. At the time we were told that service would be restored, well, it is 4 years now and nothing.

I have a response from New York Public Radio answering my recent question about when WQXW Ossining, (the repeater FM station at 90.3 MHz serving mid- and northern- Westchester) will increase its power from 53 to 250 watts.

The response follows:

Hello George,

Thank you for following up with.

We originally hoped improvements to WQXW would be completed by the start of fall, but unfortunately, the upgrade is taking longer than expected. Our engineers are currently working to improve the transmitter and signal by the start of 2014. We greatly appreciate your patience.

Thank you for listening to and supporting New York Public Radio!

Sincerely,

Amira NaderNew York Public Radio Listener Services160 Varick Street, New York NY 10013T: 646.829.4000|F: 646.829.4191

Used to listen to WQXR when they broadcasted from a spot on the dial (96.3) that had some power. Now the yakity-yak on WNYC is nice and clear whilst the music on WQXR is is poor and static ridden. Maybe they should switch frequencies. If they're wondering why they're losing listeners, it's because we're switching to Sirrius/XM - which, by the way, isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Please give us an update on the status of the power increase for WQXW at 90.3 MHz. When you first announced the start of the new service you indicated that the station would increase its power from its modest 53 watts to 250 watts this fall, which should bring a clearer signal than is currently available in many parts of Briarcliff Manor and Ossining and extend its reach to more central and northern Westchester villages and towns beyond the current service area.

Thanks for your investment to acquire the station, to obtain the construction permit and for your additional investment of New York Public Radio's resources to improve reception. I would hope that all of those who have commented are members of the WNYC-WQXR-WQXW family.

If I understand correctly in order for WQXR to have a more powerful signal they need the approval of the FCC. I can't believe that THE ONLY CLASSICAL station in NYC cannot get this approval while other stations with a lot less cultural value to the society, can be heard miles away. Could you use some of your funds to lobby WDC to get approval for a more powerful signal?

Since WQXR switched to the weak 105.9 slot, I have tried many different arrangements to receive my beloved station in my home on the Ossining/Croton border and while "tooling around" in Westchester. The results have been FAR FROM satisfactory. So, you cannot imagine my delight when I learned about 90.3 would be broadcasting this wonderful content -- something I had proposed a few years ago! I do hope that when the signal is strengthened, the results will be better, but right now, along the Routes 9 and 9A corridor, 105.9 (despite the annoying static) is still a much stronger signal than 90.3 -- and why is 90.3 a few seconds "ahead" of 105.9?

Soon after relocating from Kentucky to Connecticut in 1989, I believed that I had found a treasure, when I discovered WQXR! Through the years I enjoyed your wonderful programming, while at home or commuting to my office in Fairfield. After I retired, I even purchased a Bose radio so that I could enjoy WQXR classical music with a stereo sound. However, soon after, when WQXR became an NPR station, much to my dismay, my stereo sound became mostly static! I had hoped that WQXW's signal might be stronger, but not true ........ cannot pick up 90.3's signal at all!

As others have written, can you do for Fairfield County, what you have done for Westchester County???

Out in Eastern Long Island (E of Syosset?) WQXR is GONE ! We now listento WQXR streaming on the internet...There is a huge classical music audience in eastern Nassau and western Suffolk counties who sorely miss the station since the changeover in 2009. The positive side to all of this is that we have discovered internet radio and have now EXPANDED our coverage to include the entire civilzed world of classical (and other) music...some really great programing in Italy !

So happy to hear you are expanding signal. Please come back to Pound Ridge! I have been a listener since 1952 and truly miss not being able to have radio reception for WQXR. Right now 90.3 brings in some kind of Rock Station! and 105.9 gets me only spotty Static filled reception on a good day. I listen on-line, but the cost of keeping the broadband connection open motor than an hour a day is prohibitive. i miss you, come back!

For over 40 years every radio in my house was tuned to your station until you changed to the new frequency. At best, I now get a weak signal on one radio. At work I can listen online but at home it's not practical. The car signal is so bad that I have to listen to Sirius XM during my daily commute. Please get a stronger frequency and keep your loyal New Jersey listeners. We donate and we'll thank you for it.

I am a long time listener and contributor to WQXR on 105.9. Usually the reception is good ( sometimes iffy in the morning). When I heard that WQXR would now be broadcasting to Westchester on 90.3 I was delighted and looking forward to excellent reception. Now there is absolutely NO reception on either station!!!! Thank goodness there is online broadcasting but I do like listening on my BOSE radio....So what is happening?

It's nice that WQXR has 90.3 in Ossining. But for those who you who may not realize, WQXR also has repeater frequencies in Asbury Park, NJ at 96.1 FM and in Poughkeepsie/Highland, NY on 103.7 FM. I'm very fortunate to receive WQXR now after living in the Hell's Kitchen area in Manhattan where often the frequency was hard to receive. Now that I've relocated to the East Side in the Tudor City area, it's more convenient to get the station more clearly.

I live in Howard Beach Queens, and the reception from 105.9 is spotty. Some days the reception is great and on other days and especially at night it becomes weak. Are you reducing the power at night to conserve energy? Very peculiar WQXR.AS far as 90.3, forggettaboutit. It is a completely different station here.

This is a definite improvement to car reception in my area (Yorktown Heights), but I've been receiving CD-quality signal for a couple of years using an attic antenna ($18 from Radio Shack) and a Sony HD Radio Tuner ($90), via the HD bands of WNYC. And I live in a valley in a fringe area.

How nice for the listeners in Westchester. Read above how many in N.J. and long Island still beg for you/ To that list, I add greater N.Y. especially the upper East Side. I have spent more on antennas and tuners since your move than I have given to your station. You have hurt thousands of listeners who live in apartments in Manhattan in the shadow cast by the buildings north and east of the feeble transmitter on the Empire State. How can you fundraise if people can't hear you? soon there will be new space at 1 World Trade Center. Start a special fund drive to get up there with POWER. I will be the first to contribute.

The problem remains the weenie power from your main transmitter. Even within range, you get a ton of clicks and pops. The HD radio in my car constantly cycles in and out of digital, with annoying changes in sound quality and a stutter. Find a way to get permission to restore the power that was 96.3.

I concur with Margaret LB from Staten Island. I live in Monmouth County NJ, and your signal there is often stepped on by other stations, while on the car radio. At home, I get marine and flight communications (usually planes coming into LaGuardia) interrupting the broadcast signal. Maybe at some point some remedy can be found for this? Love your station and programming, and I don't like not being able to listen, even so close to NYC. We're only about 25 miles out, if you're a bird (or a broadcast signal).

We are listeners for well over 50 years and acquired several Bose radios to enjoy the music. Then the move to NJ resulted in marginal reception. We are glad to hear you are coming back gradually but find that 90.3 comes in quite nicely but is WHPC in Garden City. What will happen for us this fall?

Our reception on the south shore of Staten Island is terrible and sometimes the signal is overlaid by marine signals in the Raritan Bay(especially on weekends or late-night). The signal is so weak that college radio stations sometime encroach. Certain neighborhoods receive such a weak signal that WQXR cannot even be listened to. And, forget about listening on a Walkman. So, as you expand your signal. please remember that Staten Island is actually a part of NYC so it would only be fair for us to be able to listen to our own public radio station!

Thank you so much for getting the radio station broadcast so that we can hear it. I live in Putnam County and experienced much static and interference once WQXR moved from 96.3. So far 90.3 seems to be clear and wonderful

I live in Putnam County (Mahopac) and share the same plight of Jim and Joyce. PLEASE strengthen the signal for 90.3. There is a local Pop/Rock radio station that using 105.9 in our area. Curious if I will be able to get you on 90.3 when I arrive home after work.

I am delighted that my member funds will be going to help my fellow area residents hear the music we all love. Congratulations to all who made this happen. May this augur well for a stronger signal for northern New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut. Classical music fans of metro-New York City UNITE! You have nothing to lose but your chains(#2).

Dear WQXR,We have both listened to your WONDROUS station for years and years....and of course 'suffered' with limited reception at times. NOW...at last, we will be able to enjoy classical music and WQXR commentators at home as well as on our radios. Expanding your broadcast area, is truly a special gift for all of us who still cherish the sound of the classics. Thank you....we support you in this special endeavor, with our donations and also our moral support. Thank you.

Ditto for Long Island. I had to hook up a wireless connection from my computer to my radio in the living room in order to receive WQXR after the switch to 15.9. Not too thrilled about that. And forget about listening in the car in eastern Nassau where I live. A clear signal is so rare that it is not worth even trying! Please consider boosting the signal on Long Island!

According to the WDFH website, WQXR will getting some of its equipment back. Furniture too, maybe.

But: I live in Ossining, and the 90.3 signal -- sandwiched between the Columbia station (89.9) and the Fordham station (90.7) -- is weaker than the one for 105.9. That's in the apartment.

In the car, it's a different story. 90.3 becomes audible near the intersection of 35 and 100 and strengthens as I drive southward. On Sunday night, I listened to a tape from April, which (in retrospect) did not augur well.

Still, I'll miss Vinny Cohan's wildly eclectic playlist and his on-air support for musicians based in the Lower Hudson Valley.

It's great to hear of the expansion north of the city. Long Island deserves to benext! I am in Nassau County and so get reception but nothing like I did when thestation signal was stronger. However, friends farther east (especially in SuffolkCounty) do not get WQXR at all! It's time to think about all that territory lost to the station because of the weak 105.9 signal!